Backstage: Twelve Angry Jurors

(Host) Lock twelve people in a jury room and
listen in as they deliberate the fate of a young man charged with murder.

That's
the premise of a drama written by Reginald Rose. The work was first produced by
CBS televison in 1954. Three years
later, Henry Fonda starred in the film adaptation.

And
now, the Vermont Actor's Repertory Theatre brings its version of Twelve Angry Jurors to Rutland's Paramount Theater.

VPR's
Nina Keck has more.

(Keck) A six-day trial has just ended as the play
begins.

(Judge) "You have heard a long and
complex case, ladies and gentlemen. It's
now your duty to sit down and separate the facts from the fancy. One man is dead, the life of another is at
stake."

(Larson) "The play opens as the jury
retires and takes a preliminary vote to see who thinks this 19 year old
defendant is guilty of murdering his father with a knife, and who does not."

(Keck) That's Chris Larson. He plays juror number 8 -- the hold out. His character is the only juror to vote not
guilty.

(Larson and others) "There were 11 votes
for guilty. It's not so easy for me to
raise my hand to send a kid to die without talking about it first.'' ``Who said
it was easy for me?'' ``Or me?'' ``No one.''

(Larson) "The rest of the play
chronicles the decision making process of this group of people . . . the
alliances that they build that fall apart, the conflicts that arise with a
couple of the characters and how they arrive eventually at a consensus."

(Ensemble) "The kid's a dangerous
killer. You can see it. ``Where do you
look to see if a man's a killer? I'd
like to know.'' ``What is it about this case that makes you think this kid is
innocent?'' ``He's 19 years old.'' ``That's old enough. He knifed his own father four inches into
the chest.''

(Keck) For 90 minutes, you watch the characters
argue, reason and deliberate with one another. Sandy Gartner, who plays the jury
foreperson, says it's riveting.

(Gartner) "You see 12 individuals who
have never been together before this week. And we have been charged with literally
making a life or death decision -- and to have witness to that as an audience
member and as an actor -- it's a very intense experience."

(Keck) Gartner says the actors worked very hard
developing their characters' identities.
All their different quirks, mannerisms and personalities, she says, add
tension and realism to the performance.

(Gartner) "And I find now as I'm walking
on stage, I'm realizing, `Oh, that's why he's acting that way, because he's
that kind of person.' And I've really gotten to know these
characters as people.

(Caruso) "To me it's just life."

(Keck) That's Cynthia Caruso who plays another
member of the jury.

(Caruso) "And that's one of the things
to me that makes it so alive. Changing
and liking someone and then disliking someone and thinking that this person's
right and then thinking that maybe they're not right. It's life."

(Keck) And life, she says, is rarely certain. There's always a little reasonable doubt. Cast
members say watching the various characters come to terms with that is what
Twelve Angry Jurors is all about.

For
VPR News, I'm Nina Keck in Rutland.

(Host) Twelve Angry Jurors runs this
weekend and next at the Paramount Theater in Rutland.